Ward herbert



(No Model.) 4 sheetssheen 1. W. SI HUBBARD & R. GIBBINS. MACHINE FORSORTING PILLS AND OTHER SIMILAR. ARIIGLES.`

No. 450,937. Patented Apr. 2l, 1891.

INVENTOR Tn: noms mens cui, maremma., msmusww. D4 c.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. S. HUBBARD 8v R. GIBBINS. y MACHINE IOR SORTING PILLS AND OTHERSIMILAR ARTICLES.

No. 450,937. Patented Apr. 21,1891.

ha: nunms vanas cow marmumn., wnsmnumn, u.

(No Model.) sheets-sheen 3. 4

W. S. HUBBARD 82: R. GIBB'INS. MACHINE FOR SOR'IING PILLS AND OTHERSIMILAR ARTICLES. No. 450,937. Patented Apr. 21, 1891.

INVENTORS mnu' MaJ/ owl/mea, 4H W77 I WITNESSES (No Model.)

W. S. HUBBARD 8u R. GIBBINS..

4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

MACHINE FOR SORTING PILLS AND OTHER SIMILAR ABJIGLIS.

FIC-.12..

Patented Apr. 21, 1891.

INVENTORS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VILLIAM SAMMONS IIUBBARD, OF COVENTRY, AND RICHARD GIBBINS, OF

TO SAID llUBBARD AND ALF RED ED- MACHINE FOR SORTlNG PILLS AND OTHERSIMILAR ARTICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 450,937', dated April21, 1891.

Application iiled March 11, 1889. Serial No. 302,930. (No model.)Patented in England September 2, 1887, No. 11,914.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that we, WILLIAM SAMiIoNs HUBBARD, engineer, and RICHARDGIBBINS, chemist, subjects of the Queen of Great Britain', the formerresiding at Queens Road, Oeventry, England, and the latter residing at36 Evington Road, Leicester, England, have invented a certain new anduseful Machine for Sorting Pills and other Similar Articles; that 1e thesame has not been patented in any foreign country excepting GreatBritain, bearing date the 2d day of September, 1387, and numbered11,914; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, reference being had to theaccompanying' drawings, which form part of this specification.

The object of our invention is to provide a machine for the purpose ofsorting pills and zo other articles, so that those of a required sizeare separated from others of various sizes and irregular shapes.

1n the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of part ofthe machine, and Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the Vibrating tray, whichis placed at the end et and forms a continuation with the parts shown inFig. 1. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical central section, and Fig. -i aplan, of the machine, the portion below line being shown in section.Fig. 5 shows the mechanism at the end of the machine for vibrating thetray, of which Fig. 6 is atransverse section. Fig. 7 is a side View ofstandard. Fig. 8 is a plan ot forked link. Fig. 9 is a front view ofcam, and Fig. l0 is a sectional detail View showing the manner ofmounting. Fig. 1l is a sectional View, and Fig. 12 is a side elevation,on an enlarged scale, of portions of the pill-asserting mechanism.

Like letters refer to the same parts throughout the drawings.

ct is the foundation or bed which supports the frame of the machine a',upon which is mounted a shaft b, carrying a cam b for imparting avibrating motion to an inclined chute c, pivotally supported at or nearits lower end c by the frame-work, and upon which are placed the pillsor other articles to be sorted.

rlhe shaft (Z has its bearings in the framework and carries near thelower end of the inclined chute c a suitable feeder-bar (Z, extendingacross the machine and provided with a ledge (Z2, onto which the pillsroll from the chute o. This feeder d is capable of being alternatelyraised and lowered by means of a lug e, carried on the end of the shaftCZ and actuated by a tappeti-lever c', which receives its Inotionfrom acaln f', Fig. 9, fixed on the 6o end of the shaft f2ot` the rollerf,Fig. lO. NVhen the feeder CZ is in its lowest position, the front row ofpills rolls onto the ledge (Z2, and when the feeder rises to its highestposition it forms an inclined plane with the fixed bar g, down which thepillsroll into the space or opening g', Fig. 3, formed between the edgeof the xed bar g and the periphery ot the revolving roller f. Theposition of this roller is adjustable in relation to the fixed 7o bar gby means of the adjusting-screw ZL and the spring-actuated rod h', thelatter of which may preferably be formed integrally with the bearing ofthe Ioller. The space or opening g is just sutiiciently wide to allowthe small pills-that is, those under the required sizeto fall throughinto a box` 71.2, Fig. l, placed underneath for their reception. Theadjustable rollerf has its bearings in journals f3, capable of moving upand down in the slot 8o f4, and is provided throughout the whole of itslength with a groove or channel f5 ot the length ot the opening g', madebetween the periphery of the roller f and the fixed bar g, so that onthe said groove or sunken channel coming opposite the edge of the fixedbar g the larger pills are allowed to fall onto the curved inside of theIlap y, down which said larger pills roll and onto and rest over the gapZ.

rlhe iiap y, which is double-armed, turns upon a shaft or axis l1/2, andis also provided with a eounterpoised weight y, which has the constanttendency to keep the ilap up to and against the periphery of the roller,as shown 9 5 in the enlarged view, Fig. 11, of which Fig. 12 is a sideelevation. Rigid with the iiap or its axis or shaft is a tappet U4,(shown in dotted li.ncs,) operated or moved outwardly by a pin z2,standing out from the face of a roo grooved driving-pulley.e', whichrevolves with the rollerj". ',llius on pillshaving been thrown by thefeeder, as aforesaid, onto or above the opening g', just after thechannel sunken within the roller` has passed the edge of the fixed barin the direction as indicated by the arrow, the small pills continue tofall through the said longopening g and down behind the flap y, whichnowhas its edge resting against the roller, as shown in the saidenlarged view, Fig. ll. The said roller, continuing to revolve, bringsthe pin z2 against the tappet ift, which moves the flap back to theposition as shown in Fig. 3, when the groove in the roller having comeopposite the fixed edge, as shown in the said Fig. 3, the larger-sizedpills, resting onand over the opening, fall through onto the inside ofthe flap and are then by its incline rolled forward on the bar Z, andfrom thence onto a second gap Z, Fig. 3,'the feeder (Z meanwhiledelivering the next row of pills from the chute c over to the opening orspace g between the periphery of the rollerf andthe edge of the fixedbar g. As soon as this has taken place, the pin 22, passing off thetappet {1/2, allows the iiap y to fall against the roller f again.

The space or opening Z, the width of which is adjustable, is formedbetween the fixed bar Z and the adjustable bar Z2, each of which has itsbearings in the sides of the frame-work, the bar Z2 being adjustable bymeans of the spring-pressed screw Z3. The space Z is set of the requiredwidth to allow pills of the right size to fall through onto the inclinedplane p and to retain on the top by resting on the edges of the twofixed bars pills which are above the required size.

Before another row of pills is fed into the space or opening Z theselarge pills are cleared away by means of the blade m (shown in itshighest position in Fig. 3) rising in the space or opening and causingthe large pills to roll down the adjustable bar Z2 through the chute ZJland down the slope Zinto the box h2, placed to receive them, as well asthe small pills. The blade m is secured at each end to a spring-actuatedarman', adjustable by means of the thumb-screw m2, and receives itsrising motion by means of the weight m4 or equivalent and its fallingmotion by means of the cam c4 and tappet-lever e2 actuating the arm e3,carried on the shaft ci at the end of the cross-bar e, Figs. 3 and 4.The pills which have fallen through the second opening Z, although ofthe required size, may not be perfectly round. They are thereforeconveyed through the opening p in the inclined plane p to a vibratinginclined tray o'. The tray is suspended by means of the straps s',connected to each end of the two beams s,

`fixed on the horizontal shaft of", supported at each end by a standardq, bolted to the wood bed w. Fixed to the shaft r is an arm r2, carryingat its lower end a set-screw r3, which can be tightened in the slot r*to keep the tray o at any required angle.

A lateral vibrating motion is imparted to the tray o* while the pillsare descending byv the following means: On the end of the shaft Z) is agrooved pulley t, communicating motion by means of a rope or equivalentto a similar pulley7 t', mounted on one end of the shaft Z2, supportedin the lower part of the frame-work d.

On the opposite end of the shaft t2 and inside the frame-work a is adisk t3, connected by means of the piu t* and rod Z5 to the horizontallever t, working on the shaft u. On the opposite end of this shaft is avertical lever t7, connected at its upper end by a forked link lv, Fig.S, aud plate 'if' to the under side of the tray o'.

The machine is set in motion by the handwheel b2, fixed on the shaft Z),which carries at its opposite end a grooved pulley Z13, imparting motionby means of a rope or equivalent to a similar pulley Zr'L on the end ofthe roller-shaft f2, and the operation of the machine is as follows:rihe pills or other similar spherical or globular bodies tof'be sort-edare placed on the vibrating inclined chute c, which delivers them ontotheledge d2 of the alternating or rising and falling feeder-bar CZ. Thisfeeder having risen to its highest position, the pills roll int-o thespace or opening g', formed between the fixed bar g and the revolvingadjustable roller f just as the channel 75 has passed the fixed edge ofthe bar g, and the roller f, continuing to revolve, keeps the pillsmoving in the opening, the object of the rolling being to find any pillshaving a smaller diameter than the width of the opening, when they willfall through into the receptaclebelow.

The channel]5 in the rollerf, having made a complete revolution,arrives,as aforesaid, before the fixed edge of t-he bar g, when the pillsremaining in the openingg fall through and are from thence conductedonto the second opening Z, formed between the fixed and adjustable barsZ and Z2, which allows only pills of the right size to fall through, andretains on the top all which are too large. The blade m, then risingbetween the bars Z and Z2, lifts and delivers the large pills onto thechute Z'l and inclined plane Z5 into the box h2, Fig. l. The pills ofthe required size, having fallen onto theincline plane p, rolldown andpass through an openingp near thebottom onto the inclined vibrating trayo, when those of practically perfect uniformity of shape and size-thatis, the round pills-on reaching the bottom will have acquired sufficientmomentum to carry them over the adjustable edge z5 into a suitablereceptacle X; but those of imperfect shape and size will naturally rollslower, and, not having acquired sufficient momentum to carry them overthis edge, they will fall between it and the end of the inclined trayinto a box X below. The lateral Vibration is imparted to the inclinedtray during the descent of the pills in order to find any dents or iiatplaces in them, and thereby causethem to roll slower.

IOO

IIO

IZO

The means for sorting,1 may be briefly described as follows: The firstmeans (the adjustable revolving rollerf and fixed edge g) takes ont thesmall pills, the second means (the two fixed edges l and Z2) removes thelarge pills, and the third means (the vibrating inclined tray r)separates the irregularlyshaped pills from the perfect ones.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patentl. In a machine for sorting pills and the like,the combination of a roller f, having groove or channel f5, with a fixedbar g, the roller and bar being;` adjustable in relation to each other,a tilting feeder d', and an inclined Vibrating chute, substantially asand for the purpose as described and illustrated.

IVILLIAM SAMMONS I-IUBBARD. RICHARD GIBBINS.

Titnessesz J os. B. HAXBY, Solicitor to U. S. C. Agent, Leicester.

J. B. WARING,

His clerk.

